


no secrets

by anyastasia



Category: 2027
Genre: Angst, Multi, Ryan gets absolutely fucking decked oh shit, no one dies in 2027 season 1 but I said fuck you tyler, this is like mega angst you’ve been warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:20:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21974974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anyastasia/pseuds/anyastasia
Summary: Ryan tells Tyler, Kaz, Lex and Mandy about what happened to him on Christmas Eve. No one really takes it well.
Relationships: Lex/Ryan
Kudos: 1





	no secrets

“The first thing I want to say before I begin is that no one should be worried in any way,” Ryan began.

Tyler instantly doubted him. The way Ryan stood spoke volumes about his agitation. He kept moving, shifting on his feet and fiddling with the sleeves of his sweater. He was pale, with dry, red eyes that meant he hadn’t slept well in days.

“That instantly worries me,” Kaz said curiously. Tyler couldn’t help but agree. When someone tells you not to worry, you’re instantly going to worry.

Ryan moved to scratch his neck nervously. “Okay. Sorry. That was weird. I just...I need to tell you guys something.”

Tyler, Kaz, and Lex were all sitting on the couch in the living room of the house in Georgetown, while Mandy stood a ways away, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Ryan stood in front of them, like a contestant on a talent show about to perform. 

Ryan sighed. “So. Um. The night before Christmas? Christmas Eve? The first night we all stayed here?” His forest green eyes swept over the group until they found Lex. He swallowed thickly. “Lex came and woke me up for watch, maybe around midnight.”

Lex tilted her head slightly to the side, recalling the event. Tyler remembered putting the girls on second watch, and Ryan on watch after them. Lex nodded minutely, and Ryan continued.

“Something happened while I was on watch.” Ryan took a large breath. “There was a zombie. But it was dark, and I couldn’t see.”

A dark, nauseating stone dropped deep into Tyler’s stomach. He didn’t want to hear any more of Ryan’s story. Glancing to the side, he saw Kaz narrow his eyes, trying to understand, and Lex’s big puppy-dog eyes widening even more than they already were. Mandy slowly let her hands drop to her sides.

Ryan clutched the sleeves of his sweater nervously. “It came really close to me. I couldn’t see it. And by the time I shot it, well, it--it was too late.”

With great hesitation, Ryan reached down and pulled up his pantleg. On his ankle was a terrible, festering bite wound, oozing blood and several other bodily fluids that Tyler would much rather never see again. Beside him, Kaz gagged and buried his face in a pillow. The veins all around the wound were a dark shade of green, and the tendrils of death snaked up his leg and into the rest of him.

Ryan dropped the pantleg back down, and Tyler looked up at his face. Ryan’s eyes were big and glossy with tears. He hiccuped nervously. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” He said desperately. “I thought I could fix it. I tried so much, I tried to stop it, I-”

“I trusted you!” Lex suddenly shouted, standing. Tyler gazed at her in amazement. He had never once heard her raise her voice at anyone, not even Kaz. And he thought Lex and Ryan were, like, a thing.

Lex’s features all displayed tension. Her fists were balled up, and the bones in her neck were visible under her skin. Her eyes were wide and shiny and there were already glossy streaks down her cheeks. 

“Lex-” Kaz said weakly, obviously as hurt as Lex. He reached out to gently touch her arm, but she swatted him away, striking him across the cheek.

“We told each other no secrets,” Lex seethed, beginning to tremble. “Nothing. I told you everything I’m scared of, and so did you. That was  _ days _ after Christmas. You never fucking told me! I trusted you with everything, and  _ this _ is how you repay me?”

Ryan looked utterly destroyed. His eyes were wide, and a tears skipped down his face to land on the floor. He had his hands out in front of him, as if to protect himself if Lex launched herself at him.

“Lex,” he said softly. “I never-”

With an anguished cry, Lex turned and ran out of the room, sobbing the whole way. Tyler’s heart twisted. He had never seen Lex cry or even really be sad. He wanted to go after her.

However he was stalled as Kaz rose up off of the couch and decked Ryan in the jaw. Hard.

Ryan fell to the floor, out cold. Tyler stood up abruptly. Kaz was breathing hard, staring at Ryan with pure hatred.

“You okay?” Tyler asked, hoarsely, putting a hand on Kaz’s shoulder. 

Kaz shook his head furiously. “He hurt Lex’s feelings.”

There was a click as Mandy yanked the safety off of her pistol and walked over, pointing it at Ryan with little emotion in her face.

“Woah, Mandy, wait,” Tyler chided, hopping over Ryan’s limp frame to stand in front of her. “We’re not going to shoot him.”

“We might as well,” Mandy growled. “He’s going to turn. It’s only a matter of time.”

Tyler glanced back at Ryan. “We may need to get rid of him,” Tyler said softly. “But not now. Not when he’s still human and sentient.”

Mandy groaned in annoyance, but shoved the pistol back into its holster. She stomped up the stairs, and then a door slammed. 

“I’m going to make sure she’s okay,” Kaz said, exiting the living room. Tyler dragged Ryan onto the couch before following.

He watched from the window as Kaz approached Lex, who was sitting on the porch steps and sobbing violently. Her little shoulders shook as Kaz closed the screen door and softly said her name, more as a question than a statement. Lex screamed at him to go away, whipping around to stare at him. The anger in her face melted when she saw Kaz, and her face contorted into sobs again, and she turned away, her body trembling.

Kaz walked over slowly and sat beside her, and to Tyler’s surprise, Lex immediately leaned into him and clutched onto his shoulder, crying. Lex was never one for physical contact. Kaz wrapped an arm around his friend, and they just sat there quietly, staring out at the half-destroyed wall.

Tyler went back into the living room to inspect Ryan’s wound further. He tentatively rolled up his pantleg again to look at it. Somehow, the green veins had become worse since Tyler had seen them earlier.

He almost wanted to touch it, but was stopped when Ryan jerked awake, gasping. Tyler bolted upright and backed up, eyes wide. Ryan’s face was even more pale, and his eyes were no longer bloodshot. Instead, the veins in his face had turned black and inky black bile dribbled out of his mouth.

“Tyler,” Ryan gasped, reaching out with a shaking hand. “Help.”

Tyler could never remember how long it took to draw his gun or pull off the safety, but his memory regained as the gunshot echoed around the living room and Ryan fell limply against the couch and then rolled onto the floor, face-up. His black-bloodshot eyes stared lifelessly up at the ceiling.

Tyler wiped some inky black blood off his cheek, put his gun away, and left. 


End file.
